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Halfway to the Grave
by Jeaniene Frost
Halfway to the Grave is the first in a series of novels about a half-human, half-vampire hunter named Cat. She is the product of a rape and carries her mother’s vendetta against all things vampire, and she became a hunter so that she could eventually find her father and kill him, but she doesn’t mind killing every vampire she comes in contact with along the way.
Initially, I’m not sure what rating to give this novel. I enjoyed it. I’m glad I read it. I will leisurely make my way through the rest of the series.
If I just rated based on my overall feeling at the end of the book, I’d give it four stars, maybe even five. But if I take into account my initial feelings, that’s way too generous, and I’d give it a solid three stars.
It didn’t suck (no pun intended). In fact, the beginning had a good “hook,” and immediately I wanted to keep reading. I love it when a book just kind of drops you into the action, and I wanted to get into that. It was well written and well edited, so I can’t complain about that.
My problems in the beginning were more to do with the characters than anything. That being said, one of the things that I loved the most about reading this was being able to watch Cat and Bones both grow and develop as characters. That is good writing. I wasn’t told, I was shown, subtly and over the course of the entire novel, the changes that made the characters go from “tolerable” to actual likeable people, and it wasn’t crammed in my face.
I know that basically everyone that’s ever read this series drowns in puddles of their own drool over Bones, and I’m going to be frank here, I don’t get the appeal. Even after reading the whole book, I don’t get the appeal. But hey, to each their own. Initially, I couldn’t get past the Spike similarities to even give him much of a chance. And, okay, it might be because I read too many comics, but I really have a problem with authors that try to “write” an accent. I can pretty well imagine what it sounds like without having to hurt my brain to figure out what the hell a character’s saying. One of the things that made Bones grow on me through the book was the fact that the author stopped writing his accent and trusted that I could remember it on my own.
Catherine, to be blunt… was a brat. To some extent, I could understand. But sometimes it just rubbed me the wrong way. There’s nothing I hate more than reading about someone who thinks they’re the end-all in maturity when they’re really like a child. Like I said, this wasn’t entirely her fault—I get that she was just following what she had been taught, and to some extent, I pitied her because her mother just couldn’t accept what she was. On the other hand, I found myself wishing that she’d started having a few thoughts of her own before the book started, just so I wouldn’t have to grind my teeth while she grew up.
All that being said, by the end of the book, Cat had really grown into a heroine I liked, but not in a way that felt unnatural. You know that perfect wife making machine in The Stepford Wives? Sometimes I feel like there’s a special model just for making you like a heroine that’s a little too obnoxious. I do think that Jeaniene Frost managed to avoid using the perfect heroine making machine, and I find myself respecting the characters a little more than usual.
I really do hope that the future books in this series drive the plot by something a little more profound than flirting. It was fine for this one. And it’s paranormal romance, I get it. But this book seemed to me, if I’m looking at it as part of a series anyway, that its primary purpose was to establish the relationship between the characters more than anything. That’s been accomplished, so now I’d like to see some actual conflict (not just throwing Francesca and Timmie in when there’s absolutely no tension there whatsoever) and a little less… I don’t know, does this count as erotica?
Initially, I’m not sure what rating to give this novel. I enjoyed it. I’m glad I read it. I will leisurely make my way through the rest of the series.
If I just rated based on my overall feeling at the end of the book, I’d give it four stars, maybe even five. But if I take into account my initial feelings, that’s way too generous, and I’d give it a solid three stars.
It didn’t suck (no pun intended). In fact, the beginning had a good “hook,” and immediately I wanted to keep reading. I love it when a book just kind of drops you into the action, and I wanted to get into that. It was well written and well edited, so I can’t complain about that.
My problems in the beginning were more to do with the characters than anything. That being said, one of the things that I loved the most about reading this was being able to watch Cat and Bones both grow and develop as characters. That is good writing. I wasn’t told, I was shown, subtly and over the course of the entire novel, the changes that made the characters go from “tolerable” to actual likeable people, and it wasn’t crammed in my face.
I know that basically everyone that’s ever read this series drowns in puddles of their own drool over Bones, and I’m going to be frank here, I don’t get the appeal. Even after reading the whole book, I don’t get the appeal. But hey, to each their own. Initially, I couldn’t get past the Spike similarities to even give him much of a chance. And, okay, it might be because I read too many comics, but I really have a problem with authors that try to “write” an accent. I can pretty well imagine what it sounds like without having to hurt my brain to figure out what the hell a character’s saying. One of the things that made Bones grow on me through the book was the fact that the author stopped writing his accent and trusted that I could remember it on my own.
Catherine, to be blunt… was a brat. To some extent, I could understand. But sometimes it just rubbed me the wrong way. There’s nothing I hate more than reading about someone who thinks they’re the end-all in maturity when they’re really like a child. Like I said, this wasn’t entirely her fault—I get that she was just following what she had been taught, and to some extent, I pitied her because her mother just couldn’t accept what she was. On the other hand, I found myself wishing that she’d started having a few thoughts of her own before the book started, just so I wouldn’t have to grind my teeth while she grew up.
All that being said, by the end of the book, Cat had really grown into a heroine I liked, but not in a way that felt unnatural. You know that perfect wife making machine in The Stepford Wives? Sometimes I feel like there’s a special model just for making you like a heroine that’s a little too obnoxious. I do think that Jeaniene Frost managed to avoid using the perfect heroine making machine, and I find myself respecting the characters a little more than usual.
I really do hope that the future books in this series drive the plot by something a little more profound than flirting. It was fine for this one. And it’s paranormal romance, I get it. But this book seemed to me, if I’m looking at it as part of a series anyway, that its primary purpose was to establish the relationship between the characters more than anything. That’s been accomplished, so now I’d like to see some actual conflict (not just throwing Francesca and Timmie in when there’s absolutely no tension there whatsoever) and a little less… I don’t know, does this count as erotica?